December 23, 2011

A tale of new hotels & old hospitals...

This building, the former Launceston General Hospital, sat vacant for a long time. It was a bit of an eyesore, actually, and a shame because it is rather a handsome building. However, like a lot of large vacant buildings in Launceston, it just sat there waiting for someone with a bit of vision and a lot of cash. So about 18 months ago, it finally re-opened as a swanky new hotel.

Maybe if I can locate a photo of this building during it's derelict hospital phase, I can do a before piece as well.

A wonderful functionalist Art Deco building, I undertook a 4 year project documenting the complex from ruin to new apartments that can be seen here: http://www.tryanphotos.com/Projects/ The spiral staircase that was at the front of the building was awesome, it was demolished as part of the redevelopment.

Thomas, I work just around the corner from this building, so I've been keeping a close eye on it for the last 5 years. It is such a shame they couldn't find room in the redevelopment for that staircase (a favourite of mine too).

Thanks for all your comments, Thomas - I'm a long time reader of your blog.

About Launceston

Launceston is Tasmania's second largest city, at the meeting of the Esk and Tamar Rivers. It's a laid-back place with a mix of well preserved heritage buildings, English-style parkland, and an indecent amount of good coffee shops.